It would take a book to review everything that has appeared on the North American Indian Wars, even recently, but anyone with a serious interest in the subject is advised to check out the list of the University Of Nebraska Press (Academic & University Publishing Group, 1, Gower Street, London, WCIE 611A). They are prolific publishers of new books on the wars, reprinted classics with new illustrations and, incidentally, books on the Civil War. Amongst there most interesting recent releases have been Hero of Beecher Island, by David Dixon (price 930.95), a study of the career of George A.. Forsyth, a career cavalry officer who commanded a detachment of scouts in a fight against the Sioux and Cheyenne, under Chief Roman Nose, in 1868, and promptly found himself a part of the mythology of the Old West. The book traces his career through the Civil War, and describes both the Beecher Island fight, and Forsyth's later campaigning against the Apache, in detail. And, for anyone whose appetite is whetted by this biography, Forsyth's own account of his adventures, Thrilling Days In Army Life, has also been reprinted by Nebraska (price 98.50). Custer's Last Stand is a new paperback edition (price £ 8.50) of Brian W. Dippie's book which first appeared in 1976, as a comment on the centenary of the Little Big Horn.

part from a brief introduction, Dippie's book is not concerned with the battle itself, but with the mythology that has grown up around it; Custer long ago ceased to be merely a controversial military leader, and passed into the realm of myth, a symbol of the opening of the Old West, permanently stuck on that Montana hillside, about to die. He has been recast over an over again in countless different forms as America has come to terms with its frontier history. Custer has become an American 'Man For All Seasons', portrayed in a different light to suit all tastes of each new generation, from the dashing martyr to the cause of the spread of white civilisation, to the incompetent, brutal exponent of internal Imperialism, a Metaphor for the horrors of Vietnam, and the massacerer of innocents. Custer's Last Stand examines that myth, which began to form within months of his death, from the poetry which greeted the first news of his defeat, through Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, countless paintings old and new, and into the movies.

If it sounds academic and dull, it most certainly isn't; it's a fascinating study of Custer memorabilia, although a tittle more comment on some of the images might have been welcome (this reviewer would have found some hints useful as to which paintings, and films were. any good as history - although the point of the book is partly that the history itself is irrelevant), and it was written before the TV mini-series Son Of The Morning Star, which arguably attempted the most balanced impression of the man himself and his demise. Nonetheless, this is an original and intriguing book.

So, too, is James O. Gump's The Dust Rose Like Smoke, which attempts a comparative study of the Sioux war of 1876 and the Anglo- Zulu War of 1879. There are, indeed, some striking parallels; both were the result of clashes between expanding white settler societies and newly emergent 'tribal' groupings, both included devastating white defeats - Little Big Horn and Isandlwana - which, paradoxically, contributed ultimately to the victors' downfall. Although the author drops one or two clangers with regard to historical aspects of the Zulu story, the argument hangs together well, and Colonial enthusiasts will find it well worth reading. For a study of other aspects of 'The Great Sioux War' of 1876-77 - and yes, there was more to it than Custer! - try Jerome A. Greene's Yellowstone Command (price £ 12.95). This is an exhaustive, well-written study of General Nelson Miles' campaign to suppress the Sioux in the Winter of 1876/7, by a noted historian who has already considered General Crook's campaign. The bitter struggle played out against the harsh back-drop of a western winter included a number of hitherto little-known battles, which are here considered in detail, and ultimately destroyed any chance the Sioux and Cheyenne had of exploiting their victory over Custer. Like all of the University of Nebraska's titles, this is an essential read for anyone interested in the realities of campaigning in the 'Wild West'.

Reviews

Introduction
Fearful Hard Times: The Siege and Relief of Eshowe 1879
Lord Chelmsford's Zululand Campaign 1878-1879
But Burdens Shouldered; Anglo-Zulu War Graves and Memorials in the United Kingdom
Deeds of Valour: A Victorian Military And Naval Trilogy
Warrior Chiefs of Southern Africa
Fuzzy Wuzzy; The Campaigns in the Eastern Sudan, 1884-85
Buller: A Scapegoat?
Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815-1905
Victorian Military Campaigns
British Campaign Medals: Waterloo To The Gulf
Guns of the British Empire: Firearms of the British Soldier, 1837-1987
Reflections From The Bridge: The Victorian Sapper in Photographs
Osprey Round - Up: Colonial Titles
Pony Wars Round-Up

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